Thread: Home made wood lathe

Further to my previous photos I attach additional photos that I was unable to include in my original posting, they are as follows-
Photo
11 Top Pulley mounted on mandrel which is not seen in front view of the lathe.
12 Motor mounting which is tucked down below the bed and is on slide arrangement for adjusting of the belt.
13 Another view of the head stock with face plate.
14 Photo of a steering wheel I turned up out of Jarrah and originally was hung on the Breakfast nook wall with a barometer mounted in the middle.
You will note the Lathe bed is made from 100 x 50 mild steel channels, these were machined flat on the face and top of the flange . In those days the company I worked for had a well equiped tool and die making shop and so with a few favours I was owed I was able to get most of the machining for free ( I think they called it in those days foreign orders)
Regards
Mac

Very nice! Thank You.

Malcolm, own made stuff is the best you can get. I like that lathe.
Is the headstock spindle from a other lathe??
Ad

That's damned good stuff Malcolm!

Originally Posted by Ad de Crom

Malcolm, own made stuff is the best you can get. I like that lathe.
Is the headstock spindle from a other lathe??
Ad

The spindle was turned up for me via the tool making shop I had access to, it was out of 50mm diam steel and finished around 40mm, there is 2 thrust bearings provided.
The use of the diff housing was not actually my idea as I stole it from one of the tool makers but it worked a treat. There must be dozens of discarded diff housings around at wreckers etc if anyone is considering making a home made Lathe.
Regards.
Mac

Brilliant idea, using the old diff! Nice bit of work, especially for 1965. We used to call those off hours projects "government work".

Originally Posted by Texian

Brilliant idea, using the old diff! Nice bit of work, especially for 1965. We used to call those off hours projects "government work".

love the idea using the diff!!!!!!!!!!!!! as far as a home made lathe (the best kind of lathe) yours is one of the best i have seen great job and still working after so many years one thing i really think should be done for a wood lathe is to machine the "ways"or bed (what ever you want to call them) i work in a good size machine shop and im telling you guys right now machining the bed needs a big mill! but its as easy as a facing cut after that i wish i could machine up a lathe at work but the big mills are very busy right now ....always anyway im rambling on now point is facing the bed makes the tail stock line up better so over all it really improves the machine

now for details.... whats the swing? max length? anything you would change if you did it again? how does the diff go as a headstock does it vibrate?

really thanks for showing it just shows you can make a very good simple lathe

Patrick

Malcom, A good job well done.

Originally Posted by new_guy90

love the idea using the diff!!!!!!!!!!!!! as far as a home made lathe (the best kind of lathe) yours is one of the best i have seen great job and still working after so many years one thing i really think should be done for a wood lathe is to machine the "ways"or bed (what ever you want to call them) i work in a good size machine shop and im telling you guys right now machining the bed needs a big mill! but its as easy as a facing cut after that i wish i could machine up a lathe at work but the big mills are very busy right now ....always anyway im rambling on now point is facing the bed makes the tail stock line up better so over all it really improves the machine

now for details.... whats the swing? max length? anything you would change if you did it again? how does the diff go as a headstock does it vibrate?

really thanks for showing it just shows you can make a very good simple lathe

Patrick

Patrick
The statistics are as follows-
Swing- is at the maximum 330mm diam.
Length- between centres 900mm , just right for turning table legs.
Power - I used a 1hp motor .
Vibration- There is minimal vibration even when turning up to 300mm diam.
The machining of the channel faces as well as the sturdy angle iron legs has all attributed to the lack of vibration, the only thing I have found was the lining up of the centre of the head stock and the tail stock and during the life of the lathe I have needed to do some realignment with a bit of reshimming , this has been about 2 or 3 times.
When I turned up the rim for the steering wheel ( see photo) which was constructed in 2 halves made up of 6 segments and when after turning the halves to shape were bought together prior to gluing there was virtual little discrepancy and it only needed a light sand to finish it off.
The maximum diam I have turned was 380 diam when I turned up the rim for my daughters sport car, to achieve this I blocked up the head stock with a solid timber packer and bolted down to the bed, I constructed the wheel rim in 2 halves made up of 6 segments, the 2 halves were turned with a groove in the back faces that came together to take the 8mm x 8mm steel rim of the original steering wheel. After turning up the final visual faces that would form wheel the 2 halves were bought together and glued with epoxy ( enclosing the steel rim). Finally with a minimal of sanding at the joint line the wooden rim was ready for finishing in a 2 part epoxy.

If I was to build a new lathe I would give some thought to be able to reverse the head stock to allow to turn outboard say for turning large bowels etc.
Perhaps it would be an advantage to be able to turn say up to 1.2m but over the last 40 years I have nether had such a call.
Another advantage would have been to have a threaded head stock spindle to take a Nova chuck but then the pipe thread that I have at present allows me to use water pipe fittings such as flanges for cheap face plates as well as reduces to make cup chucks.
I must say the turning up of wheels is a bit of a challenge particular with spokes involved and brass inserts and hubs for boats.
Regards.
Mac

Good work, nicely done

Mac the lathe sounds very good! im struggling with getting a new lathe or making the next lathe i have ....lots of food for thought there again thanks for letting us have a nose at your lathe really great to see thanks

Patrick

I've seen headstocks made from engine blocks, but never one from a diff.

Definitely a different approach! How's the diff housing attached to the bed? Just curious, 'cos I can't see any obvious bolts on the flange in the pix. (And I may borrow the idea one day. )

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

I've seen headstocks made from engine blocks, but never one from a diff.

Definitely a different approach! How's the diff housing attached to the bed? Just curious, 'cos I can't see any obvious bolts on the flange in the pix. (And I may borrow the idea one day. )

Hi Skew.
As it is some time since I have had the head stock in pieces as far as I can recall the diff housing is fixed to a 20mm thick mounting plate ( this is visible in the picture) which is bolted to the underside of the housing by means of unbreako set screws, there was 4 threaded holes where the universal joint attached. The mounting plate was then bolted to the channel iron bed rails by unbreako set screws bolting up from the underside of the flanges. At one stage I was going to attach the diff housing by means of a turned spigot that fitted the inside circular housing of the diff case and retaining it with grub screws through the side, the idea was that one could then rotate the head stock for alignment etc.
One of the reason of the 20mm thick mounting plate was to give me more height to increase the swing. When I was turning the car steering wheel rim, to increase the swing I just added a thick wooden block between the monting plate and the bed rails and increased the length of the fixing screws, it worked with out any vibration.
The diff was ex a old Morris 10 picked up from the wreckers, from one of the old bearings that had been replaced over time I noted the size stamped on the bearing as 40mm which suited the shaft.
If you were thinking of going that way to build a head stock, a EJ Holden diff would be larger and give a larger swing, you could even use a truck diff.
Regards.
Mac

Thanks, Malcolm.

This sort of project is out of my league... my metalworking skills are zero, apart from jeweller's work. Still, it's something for me to think about.